This invention relates to a 3,5-dioxa-12-azawurtzitane compound and a process of preparing same. The new class of dioxa-azawurtzitane compounds of the present invention have a structure similar to an amino acid or a polypeptide and will be utilizable for various applications, for example, as a molecular recognition agent for use in neurotransmission studies, an intermediate for a protein-resembling compound, a surfactant, a protective group and a host-guest complex for use as a sensor.
A dioxa-azawurtzitane of the following formula is reported by Hiroshi IZUMI and Shigeru FUTAMURA in J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 1925 (1998): 
in which Me stands for a methyl group and R stands for a 4-methoxybenzyl group, a 2-(pyridin-2-yl)ethyl group or a 2-(imidazol-4-yl)ethyl group. The known wurtzitane compounds do not have a structure similar to an amino acid or a polypeptide.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a 3,5-dioxa-12-azawurtzitane compound having a structure similar to an amino acid or a polypeptide.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a 3,5-dioxa-12-azawurtzitane compound represented by the following formula (I): 
wherein R1 represents an alkyl group, R2 represents a group which, together with a xe2x80x94CH(NH2)COOH group, constitutes an xcex1-amino acid of the formula R2CH(NH2)COOH and which may contain one or more substituents and R3 represents a hydroxyl group or a group obtained by removing a hydrogen atom of the terminal amino group of an oligo- or polypeptide or a polyamino acid.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a process of preparing a 3,5-dioxa-12-azawurtzitane compound represented by the following formula (I): 
wherein R1 represents an alkyl group, R2 represents a group which, together with a xe2x80x94CH(NH2)COOH group, constitutes an xcex1-amino acid of the formula R2CH(NH2)COOH and which may contain one or more substituents and R3 represents a hydroxyl group or a group obtained by removing a hydrogen atom of the terminal amino group of an oligo- or polypeptide or a polyamino acid, said process comprising reacting an amino acid, an oligo- or polypeptide or a polyamino acid with a trialdehyde represented by the following formula (II): 
wherein R1 has the same meaning as above.
In the present specification and claims, the three R1s bonded to the carbon atoms at 1-, 7- and 9-positions of the 3,5-dioxa-12-azawurtzitane compound of the formula (I) or at 1-, 3- and 5-positions of the trialdehyde of the formula (II) may be the same or different alkyl groups.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention to follow.